19 struck with food poisoning after eating Sunday carvery

Nineteen customers contracted food poisoning after eating Sunday lunch at a UK pub, it has been confirmed. The Cwrt Henllys Bar and Restaurant in Cwmbran, South Wales, said three to four tables had been infected by the bacteria Clostridium perfringens, a food poisoning spore that grows as cooked meat cools down. Torfaen Council informed the pub of the test results after an investigation concluded into the outbreak on October 5.

"We are pursuing a potential supplier issue as there has been a number of reported concerns of contaminated turkeys," the business said in a social media statement. "We've made positive changes to ensure that moving forwards there will never be a 'cooling down' period because your food will go from oven to plate straight away," it continued. "Our number one priority is to be supportive of our customers, to hear them and try to put things right."

The pub spokesperson added that only a small number of the 200 people who dined on October 5 had reported illness and urged anyone with a positive result for the bacteria to contact them directly.

According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), Clostridium perfringens spores commonly grow during cooling periods after cooking and food storage outside the refridgerator.

"Outbreaks of C. perfringens food poisoning tend to happen in settings where large groups of people and/or food are being served and where keeping food at safe temperatures may be difficult," the FSA website said.

"This also applies to batch cooking at home where you may leave food out to cool longer than you intended while preparing other food."

In the Facebook statement, the pub said it had not been given "actual physical evidence" that it was responsible for the outbreak.

"Whilst these results bring some closure to us and our patrons, we are still left with questions which we likely won't ever have answers for," it read.

"We have not had a positive result come back from [a] food product which was taken from our kitchen and tested. Our environmental health team have been absolutely wonderful and we've worked really closely with them in regards to our processes and taken on all of their advice and support.

"We have never been advised to close our kitchen and there has never been a further risk to our public."

The Express has contacted the Cwrt Henllys Bar and Restaurant for further comment.